Synthetically produced polyamino acids and their derivatives have been known for a long time and on the basis of their biological compatibility are used, for example, for specific applications in medicine and pharmacy. Apart from peptides having an effect-specific sequence, such compounds are principally film-forming substances for improving the handling properties of pharmaceutical preparations, for improving their storage stability and, in particular, for influencing the rate of release of the active substances. For these applications use is made, for example, of polymers of individual amino acids, such as polyaspartic acid, polyglutamic acid and polylysine, and also of copolymers and biologically readily compatible derivatives of such polyamino acids.
DE-A-37 00 128 describes poly(hydroxyalkyl)aminodicarboxylic acid derivatives having biologically inactive acyl groups, processes for their preparation and their use for depot preparations with controlled release of active substance.
DE-A-36 12 102 describes soluble and biodegradable copolymers comprising aspartic and/or glutamic acid units and containing reactive groups, for example hydrazide or azide groups, for the chemical attachment of biologically active substances.
EP-B-0 406 623 describes film-forming polyaspartic acid derivatives which are obtained by reacting polysuccinimide with amines and comprise structural units of the formula ##STR1## where A=H or alkyl or alkylene of 1 to 8 carbons which can also be branched and can in addition be substituted by cycloaliphatic or aromatic radicals, it also being possible for the cyclic substituent to contain heteroatoms, or by R--O groups, where R.dbd.H or linear or branched alkyl or cycloalkyl of 1 to 10 carbons,
B=H or alkyl or alkylene as defined under A, which can be the same as or different from A, PA1 D=H or NH.sub.4 or ##STR2## where A and B are as defined above, or an alkali, and a=0.2 to 1 and PA1 b=0.8 to 0, PA1 the sum of x1+x2+y1+y2+z=is 100, and PA1 x1+x2 is 30-99.9, PA1 y1+y2 is 0.1-70 and PA1 z is 0-20, PA1 A is at least one primary, secondary or tertiary alkylamine having 2 to 6 carbons per alkyl, and the alkyls can be substituted by 1, 2 or 3 groups selected independently from hydroxyl and alkoxy, and/or A is at least one diamine of the formula II ##STR4## where m is an integer from 2 to 6, PA1 R.sup.1 and R.sup.4 can be identical or different and are hydrogen or alkyl, PA1 R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 can be identical or different and are alkyl, or R.sup.2 and R.sup.3, together with the nitrogen to which they are attached, are a 5- to 7-membered saturated heterocycle of the formula III ##STR5## where n and o can be identical or different and are an integer from 1 to 5, PA1 X is CH.sub.2, S, O, NR.sup.5 or NCOR.sup.5, and PA1 R.sup.5 is H or alkyl, PA1 X is NR.sub.5, and PA1 R.sup.5 is H or alkyl, PA1 B is at least one amine of the formula IV ##STR7## where R.sup.6 --Y--(CH.sub.2).sub.p has 6 to 24 carbons, p is an integer from 1 to 23, PA1 Y is CH.sub.2, O, NH, CONH where the CO is attached to R.sup.6, or ##STR8## R.sup.6 is hydrogen or the hydrocarbon radical of a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid, PA1 R.sup.7 and R.sup.8 can be identical or different and are hydrogen, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl or .brket open-st.CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --O.brket close-st..sub.r H, PA1 r is an integer from 1 to 30, and PA1 R.sup.9 is alkyl, PA1 C is a radical which is derived from an amine of type A having primary or secondary amino groups by elimination of an amine hydrogen, PA1 D is a radical which is derived from an amine of type B having primary or secondary amino groups by elimination of an amine hydrogen, PA1 where at least one of the amines A and B has a tertiary amino group; PA1 R.sup.7 and R.sup.8 can be identical or different and are alkyl, especially relatively short-chain alkyls. PA1 x1+x2 is 50-97, PA1 y1+y2 is 3-50, and PA1 z is 0-15. PA1 A is at least one tertiary amine having 2 to 6 carbons and/or is a diamine of the formula II ##STR9## where R.sup.1 and R.sup.4 can be identical or different and are alkyl and R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.5, X, m, n and o are as defined above for the preferred embodiments, and PA1 B is at least one tertiary amine of the formula IV, in particular a tertiary amine, in which the substituents are as defined for the preferred embodiments.
which are used as coating materials and/or retardants for drug forms of therapeutic active substances and for foods and tobacco products. As the above formula shows, the monomer units, which are in salt form, are always attached to an imide monomer unit. The stoichiometric ratio of monomer units in salt form to imide monomer units is fixed at 1:1.
The cosmetic use of polyamino acids and their derivatives has also been described before. Polypeptides of protein hydrolysates, based for example on albumen or collagen, are obtainable commercially. For example, protein hydrolysates or partial hydrolysates of collagen with a molar weight of from 1100 to 1300 and from about 8 to 14 monomer units and their sodium salts (eg. Nutrilan.RTM. from Grunau) are used as protective colloids which do not foam and are not active in washing but which have dispersing and soil transport properties, for example in combination with surfactants. Similarly, various fatty acid-polypeptide condensation products are obtainable commercially as biodegradable anionic surfactants having good foaming and washing properties (eg. Lamepon.RTM. from Grunau).
DE-A-22 53 190 describes polyaspartic acid derivatives having acid amide radicals and alkali metal carboxylate and/or alkaline earth metal carboxylate radicals, their preparation by reacting polysuccinimide having a molecular weight of from 300 to 30,000 with a primary or secondary amine and then hydrolyzing the product with alkali metal or alkaline earth metal hydroxide or carbonate, and the use of the resulting products as surfactants and additives for detergents and cosmetics.
JP-A-0624 8072 describes the cosmetic use of polyaspartamides having alkali metal carboxylate radicals.
In the field of cosmetology there is a great demand for water-soluble or -dispersible polymers with good biocompatibility, biodegradability and film-forming properties. Such film-forming polymers are used, for example, to strengthen, shape and improve the structure of hair. The hair treatment compositions generally comprise a solution of the film former in alcohol or in a mixture of alcohol and water and are sprayed in the form, for example, of these aqueous-alcoholic solutions onto the hair. Following the evaporation of the solvent, the hair is held in the desired shape at the points of mutual contact of the polymer which remains. The polymers should on the one hand be sufficiently hydrophilic that they can be washed out of the hair, but on the other hand should be hydrophobic, so that hair treated with the polymers retains its shape even under conditions of high atmospheric humidity and the individual hairs do not stick to one another. To maximize the hairsetting effect it is desirable, moreover, to employ polymers having a relatively high molecular weight (K value&gt;14 in accordance with E. Fikentscher, Cellulosechemie 13 (1932), pp. 58-64). However, because of their high molecular weight these polymers are generally more difficult to wash out.
The use of the above-described polymers based on polyamino acid derivatives in cosmetology for strengthening, shaping and improving the structure of hair has not been described hitherto. Moreover, the known polymers do not fulfill the requirement of having good setting properties while nevertheless being easy to wash out.